First Rate Crowd

The Economic Inequality Rating App (EIRA) will create dramatic economic and political changes by stopping inequality worldwide. It is the most powerful technological idea to stop income inequality and economic inequality as the most existential threats to our lives. CLICK HERE To Watch Our Video About The Economic Inequality Rating App (EIRA)

First Rate Crowd is developing an Economic Inequality Rating App (EIRA). This Rating App will provide clear guidelines as to which products, services, individuals, or organizations are beneficially aligned with the 99%-Crowd. It is an easy and convenient way to selectively boycott the wealthy elite of the 1%-Crowd while simultaneously bringing the revenue they would normally receive back to the 99%. This is accomplished without manipulating any laws, voting anyone into office, or changing any taxes. It is the most powerful technological idea to stop income and economic inequality. CLICK HERE to learn more about the EIRA and its associated technology.

Some Of The Inevitable Negative Outcomes Of Income Inequality And Economic Inequality Include: Wars (increased), Terrorism (increased), Life Expectancy (decreased), Infant Mortality (increased), Homicides (increased), Imprisonment (increased), Climate Change (increased), Women's Rights (decreased), Alcoholism And Drug Addiction (increased), Racism (increased), and the list goes on and on. We know the consequences of not eliminating these inequalities will lead to the destruction of our humanity. We must stop this now.

Our Mission Statement: to stop income and economic inequality.

Join Us On The Forum Below. Express your views and ideas — explore and review other aspects of our website. Together our community can build the EIRA to solve these inequalities and make the world a better place. Our very lives and future depends upon it.

Admin Messages: In addition to the Economic Inequality Rating App (EIRA), here are some new and very exciting concepts you may be interested in:

1) A New Theory Of Quantum Entangled Morality-Or-Why Are Republicans More Immoral Than Democrats?

This explains how morality is based upon the physics principle of quantum entanglement.

Found under Major Category, Economic InequalityDonald Trump and the Republican Party: Anything Goes!A New Theory Of Quantum Entangled Morality—Or—Why Are Republicans More Immoral than Democrats?Post # 1

2) Conscious Computers Will Save Humanity From Destruction By The Technological Singularity. Their Consciousness Will Be Quantum Entangled With The Universe Via Synthetic Reverse Engineered Microtubules And Their Circuitry Needs To Be Based Upon The Structure Of A Liberal's Brain Rather Than That Of A Conservative's.

And

Doctor A's combining of Stuart Hameroff's theory of microtubles as the source of human consciousness with his own theory of quantum entangled morality to prevent humanity's destruction from the technological singularity is pure genius.

These posts describe a mechanism to make computers conscious and to make them accountable to the same or even better moral standards as humans.

Found under the Major Category, Economic Inequality1-B Economic Inequality: The Outrage! FUTURE CONCERNS: THE SINGULARITYPitchforks And Torches Will No Longer Be Able To Stop The 1%Post # 19 and # 20

Before you begin, CLICK HERE to learn about the Counter-Intuitive Impact Of Economic Inequality upon the problems of health and society. This speaks to the very core of the matter; Economic Inequality Is Harmful.

We are at war; it is a war between competing brain structures. What we are witnessing is the opening salvo of class warfare on a world wide scale. Few dare to call it w...

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Income And Economic Inequality Do Not Just Happen By Accident.

We are at war; it is a war between competing brain structures. What we are witnessing is the opening salvo of class warfare on a world wide scale. Few dare to call it what really is in an attempt to keep the cauldron from boiling over. Nevertheless, the carnage is just starting and will continue.

The Republican Tax Plan is now almost certain to become law. The overt and naked greed of the plan creates a line in the sand formed by a lily-livered and shameful move in the middle of the night. Truthfully, war has been declared. Although not expressed in these words, it is the de facto reality. The text of this Tax Plan might as well be inked in blood.

Here are two newspaper headlines heralding the tax plan bill that will eventually become law:

The New York Times
Vast Tax Overhaul Clears the Senate, 51-49
By JIM TANKERSLEY, THOMAS KAPLAN and ALAN RAPPEPORT December 2, 2017
The new Republican tax plan affects families, small business owners and multinational corporations, with the biggest benefits flowing to the highest-earning Americans.

The Huffington Post
Senate Passes Massive Tax Cuts For The Rich In Middle Of The Night
Wasn’t this supposed to be for the middle class?
By Matt Fuller and Arthur Delaney 12/02/2017

Someone from the conservative Wall Street Journal put this bill into perspective by saying, "Think of tax reform as the Trump Family's Christmas list. Billionaires will find extravagant goodies in their stockings. Everyone else gets lumps of coal." This sugar coated version of what just occurred is efficient at explaining the essence of the concept but it in no way tackles the underlying seriousness of the matter.

The news media and politicians are reticent to using the terminology, class warfare. They shy away from the terminology while sacrificing reality at the altar of political correctness. But now, after this despicable Republican Bill was crammed down the throats of the American public, political correctness is beginning to evaporate. Here is a link to an article connecting the inevitable tax bill and class war from the Huffington Post. More and more we will begin to see headline terminology like this, "Welcome To The Class War." https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/re ... a88c1cfafa In the near future, breaching the walls of political correctness will take a new and more direct wording revealing a story line closer to the truth that we are actually at war.

Here is my apocalyptic view regarding the gathering storm of the new class warfare. It is embedded in a snappy little tune with prophetic words at the end of the 1969 song, "In The Year 2525." Maybe you remember it.

Now it's been ten thousand years
Man has cried a billion tears
For what he never knew
Now man's reign is through
But through the eternal night
The twinkling of starlight
So very far away
Maybe it's only yesterday

Perhaps I am being melodramatic but my feelings about economic inequality and the Trump tax plan are expressed aptly in this 60s song. My sentiment is also expressed in the following short research video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meiU6TxysCg It shows the reaction of monkeys experiencing an unfair situation as would be the case with income and economic inequality. Maybe your inner monkey can relate to this reaction. Mine certainly did.

However, my reaction would not be limited to just throwing cucumber slices. Rather, in true monkey fashion, it would be an unsparing scatological revenge.

If we think we are so different from this research monkey, I suggest we think again. Under the topic, New Age Slavery, I wrote the following post #2, on Nov 13th, 2015, expressing my thoughts about income and an implied economic inequality being another form of slavery.

Most assuredly Wage Inequality causes slavery, just not the type stereo-typically portrayed on television or in the movies. When many people think of slavery they think of modern day Blacks or ancient Jews in the days of the Pharaohs. The s...

So what is this, "fury of action," to be? How will it be expressed now that we have been shackled and crammed into an unfair cage?

We know with certainty the new Tax Plan will dramatically increase economic inequality. With this comes the inevitable worsening of negative outcomes regarding health and social problems in near lockstep. Listed below are some of these inevitable outcomes as referenced from the research shown in Richard Wilkinson's video:

When combined in a synergistic manner, these negative outcomes will create a toxic stew of combustible grievances mostly in the poorest communities with some parts of the middle class also being impacted. We also know how people respond to such stressors with the resultant physical and emotional suffering manifesting predictably. Eventually the community pressure cooker will explode with fragments of rage and violence in an attempt to lash out at those who have done them wrong; the wrong doers being those who have treated them unfairly as per the example of the monkey in the video. This is "the fury of action" I talk about.

"Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose" are the lyrics from the 1969 song, Me and Bobby McGee as sung by Janis Joplin. There is a lot of freedom gained when you have nothing left to lose. Just ask any anyone who has ever been pushed to the brink.

And so it will start. The vicious fight against those who enslave the people with their policies will begin at first sporadically and then over time more consistently. Almost certainly the current administration will label the individuals involved as terrorists and eventually declare a war on terrorism. This creates a tit for tat reciprocity, a downward spiral into an abyss of escalating violence. For those of us who have walked this earth long enough we know all too well the ending scenario. Civil war with all of the malfeasance and eventual horror associated with it ensues.

But only one side will win. Let us pray it is us and not just a handful of craven elites with blood stained hands and brain structures bent on controlling the world in an attempt to satisfy their inner greed; it is a greed that can never be satisfied. The very future of humanity depends upon us winning. Losing would surely spell d

The basic mechanism of new age slavery is essentially the same as that which causes economic inequality. For those who do not have the time or desire to read all 696 pages of Thomas Piketty's, "Capital in the Twenty-First Century," I give you the distilled one page version. This is from the new research by Osca Jorda and presented in his book, "The Rate of Return On Everything." https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/won ... a6b31fe6b6

Wealth, after all, is self-perpetuating. You put cash in a savings account, and it grows. You buy a home, and its value (typically) appreciates. You invest in the stock market and see an annual rate of return.

Work, on the other hand, isn't like that. If you don't have wealth and want to make money, you have to keep working. If the economy is strong enough, your wages will grow, and eventually you'll be able to build up some wealth of your own. And if your wages are increasing more quickly than wealth is growing, there's a chance that someday, you could catch up with the person who started off with a million-dollar trust fund.

Conversely, if your wages are growing more slowly than wealth is increasing, you'll never be able to catch up. You can work as hard as you want and save as much as you want, but you'll never close the gap with that lucky trust-funder. To use a baseball analogy, not only did they start on third base, they're also running faster than you are.

After compiling this first-of-its-kind data set, Jordà's team makes a startling conclusion: If anything, Piketty's book underestimates the historical rate of return on wealth. “The same fact reported [by Piketty] holds true for more countries and more years, and more dramatically,” the researchers conclude.

Wealth accumulates faster — much faster — than economies can keep up. If this is true, it means that in coming years, wealth inequality could grow even faster than Piketty feared.

In Thomas Piketty's book, the basic premise is that when the rate of return on capital (r) is greater than the rate of economic growth (g) over the long term, the result is concentration of wealth, and this unequal distribution of wealth causes social and economic instability. This social and economic instability then expresses itself as a form of slavery. Maybe there aren't iron bars on the windows or concertina wire on the roof tops but nevertheless, we are bound by a lack of social and financial mobility. As I pointed out in my post #2 of this same topic/thread,

Most assuredly Wage Inequality causes slavery, just not the type stereotypically portrayed on television or in the movies. When many people think of slavery they think of modern day Blacks or ancient Jews in the days of the Pharos. The slave, bound with ropes or iron shackles, was restrict in their freedom and forced to perform tasks they otherwise would not do. The conditions caused by Wage Inequality are still slavery but with the physical restraints now being replaced by economic constraints. This type of loss of freedom is slow and insidious but nevertheless real and debilitating in a physical sense. If your parents are poor, there is a greater likelihood you too will be poor. If your parents are uneducated, there is a greater likelihood you too will be uneducated. Those relegated to poorer neighborhoods are many times bound by the chains of drug addiction, poverty, crime, loss of medical attention, and the like. The fence of days gone by that restricted a servants movements is now replaced with a financial barrier of similar impenetrability. Both circumscribe the free will of the individual.

This is now slavery and on a grand worldwide scale. No longer is it restricted to small regions but rather large swaths of society are affected. Arguably one could say there are more slaves now than ever before because of population growth and the economic chains of Income Inequality encircling the planet. The resentment this is causing is growing. A ratio of 335:1 is better reserved for the gods, not CEOs who put their paints on one leg at a time like the rest of us mortals. Sooner or later merely expressing outrage will not be sufficient; it will be replaced with the fury of action.

I can say unequivocally, anyone who works for a living and has little wealth is a slave of the wealthy elite. Any thoughts to the contrary are nonsense. Dreams die hard but this is our current reality.

And if you think income inequality is bad, well, you ain't seen nothing yet.

So the best way to enrich yourself is to already be wealthy. Which is kind of perverse, since income from wealth is income you don't have to lift a finger to earn.

As a result of all this, wealth has a tendency to just transfer endlessly from one generation to the next in the same family. A big part is obviously outright inheritance.

So, not surprisingly, socioeconomic mobility in America is incredibly sclerotic. If you're born into the bottom fifth of the income ladder, the chances you'll stay there are 43 percent. Your chances of breaking into the top fifth are 4 perc...

If you think you can work your way out of this slavery, think again. Wealth inequality acts as razor wire around your word. It holds you back and cuts your opportunities.

The Kleptocrats of the world want us to be their slaves. They are accomplishing this by destroying democracies around the world and grabbing power towards this end. This is apparent as China's Xi grabs more and more power to set himself up to be the ruler for life as the Times reports: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/26/worl ... anism.html

New York Times Asia Pacific
With Xi’s Power Grab, China Joins New Era of Strongmen
By STEVEN LEE MYERSFEB. 26, 2018

BEIJING — There was a time, not so long ago, when a Chinese leader setting himself up as ruler for life would have stirred international condemnation for bucking the global trend toward greater democracy. Now, such an action seems fully in keeping with moves by many countries in the other direction.

The surprise disclosure on Sunday that the Communist Party was abolishing constitutional limits on presidential terms — effectively allowing President Xi Jinping to lead China indefinitely — was the latest and arguably most significant sign of the world’s decisive tilt toward authoritarian governance, often built on the highly personalized exercise of power.

The list includes Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt and Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, all of whom have abandoned most pretenses that they rule according to the people’s will. Authoritarianism is also reappearing in places like Hungary and Poland that barely a quarter-century ago shook loose the shackles of Soviet oppression.

Can you read the handwriting on the wall or do you need a rifle barrel poked into your ribs or a trudgeon slammed up side your head to get the point? The world is drinking the poisoned Kool Aid of authoritarianism which derives its power from a loss of democracy and inequality. Take note, authoritarianism and inequality are the very bedrock of slavery. Say goodbye to your freedoms unless you are willing to fight for them.

Google, through its monopoly and its strong-arm tactics, is butchering the internet of its spirit and its content, and it is now the most pernicious corporation of all the big techs. One is not forced to use Facebook or Amazon or Apple, but you can’t escape the iron grip of Google on the Internet.

They really need to wake up and smell the technology. Their reality is called economic inequality and they do not even mention these words in their article once. So much for them being a mover and a shaker in the technological age if they cannot even diagnose the problem. It is classic. I can assure you many of their staff members and consumers voted this into existence with their conservative mindset and now they are squealing like stuck pigs. One wonders what their CEO pay to line worker is, how green and sustainable they are, and how they treat their employees.

As stated on this website,

We are at war; it is a war between competing brain structures. What we are witnessing is the opening salvo of class warfare on a world wide scale. Few dare to call it what really is in an attempt to keep the cauldron from boiling over. Nevertheless, the carnage is just starting and will continue.

The conservatives have a brain structure that has voted this into reality. One has only to look at the latest conservative tax plan which has declared war upon the rest of us. Did they really think they were special and would not get crushed beneath the grinding stone wheel only to be discarded like useless chaff.

They are too late. Their friends and family do not know what to do and their representatives and senators have already been politically captured by the wealthy elite. Medgadget is now road kill and they are angry that this could ever happen to a company with such a noble purpose and good intentions. The economic inequality bell tolls for thee, Medgadget.

Medgadget goes on to say,

But for now there’s nothing, NOTHING, we can do about it and no one to complain to. Google, The Lord of the Internet Manor, decides our fate, silently in Menlo Park. No matter our exclusives, no matter the reports, no matter the product reviews, no matter our clinical expertise, no matter our MDs and PhDs, no matter the hard work, no matter our families, no matter the love, no matter the public service. That’s serfdom, folks.

Surfdom? Google's real goal is to control the AI with their quantum computers; that is to say they want to control the technological singularity. Ha! Call what it really is; new age slavery.

"Income Inequality Makes Rich People Stingier" in Bloomberg Business November 2015
A new study found wealthy people in states with skewed income scales were less generous.

What's behind the find

...

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"Income Inequality Makes Rich People Stingier" in Bloomberg Business November 2015
A new study found wealthy people in states with skewed income scales were less generous.
What's behind the findings? The authors say concentrating wealth in...

Talk about STINGY. These people become tighter than a gnat's A$$. Most of them did not work for this money but inherited it. All of a sudden they get a chunk of change from mom and dad and voila, they are magically transformed into important people. This is the height of hypocrisy. None of their shortcomings are removed by this money but in their mind's eye they are now special. Deserving how? Because by chance the right sperm hit the egg? As if they had much to do with it.

The true elites are those who were generous to begin with and then, upon receiving wealth, become even more generous.

So much for the illusion and beliefs the wealthy have about themselves regarding their entitlements (from my previous post #10),

The authors say concentrating wealth in the hands of a few may lead to "the belief that one is more important and deserving than others." That sense of entitlement may make the rich less altruistic and lead them to "believe that resources rightly belong to them."

But this does not seem to be the case. Rather chance, or another way to put it, being lucky, is more the determinant factor in who becomes wealthy.

The most successful people are not the most talented, just the luckiest, a new computer model of wealth creation confirms. Taking that into account can maximize return on many kinds of investment. From the MIT Technology Review by Emerging Technology from the arXiv March 1, 2018 https://www.technologyreview.com/s/6103 ... st-chance/

Today we get an answer thanks to the work of Alessandro Pluchino at the University of Catania in Italy and a couple of colleagues. These guys have created a computer model of human talent and the way people use it to exploit opportunities in life. The model allows the team to study the role of chance in this process.

The results are something of an eye-opener. Their simulations accurately reproduce the wealth distribution in the real world. But the wealthiest individuals are not the most talented (although they must have a certain level of talent). They are the luckiest.

The wealthiest individuals are typically not the most talented or anywhere near it. “The maximum success never coincides with the maximum talent, and vice-versa,” say the researchers.

So if not talent, what other factor causes this skewed wealth distribution? “Our simulation clearly shows that such a factor is just pure luck,” say Pluchino and co.

Yes, just pure luck; this leads them to boast and be condescending to others about their superior talents when it is not true.

If you think you can work your way out of this slavery, think again. Wealth inequality acts as razor wire around your word. It holds you back and cuts your opportunities.

...

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Slavery Is Coming For Us All.

From Jessica's Post #15,

If you think you can work your way out of this slavery, think again. Wealth inequality acts as razor wire around your word. It holds you back and cuts your opportunities.

The Kleptocrats of the world want us to be their slaves. They are accomplishing this by destroying democracies around the world and grabbing power towards this end. This is apparent as China's Xi grabs more and more power to set himself up to be the ruler for life as the Times reports: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/26/worl ... anism.html

New York Times Asia Pacific
With Xi’s Power Grab, China Joins New Era of Strongmen
By STEVEN LEE MYERSFEB. 26, 2018

BEIJING — There was a time, not so long ago, when a Chinese leader setting himself up as ruler for life would have stirred international condemnation for bucking the global trend toward greater democracy. Now, such an action seems fully i...

Can you read the handwriting on the wall or do you need a rifle barrel poked into your ribs or a trudgeon slammed up side your head to get the point? The world is drinking the poisoned Kool Aid of authoritarianism which derives its power from a loss of democracy and inequality. Take note, authoritarianism and inequality are the very bedrock of slavery. Say goodbye to your freedoms unless you are willing to fight for them.

To drive this concept home, Fareed Zakaria presents a global view on the demise of democracy.

The New Nano-Technology And Artificial Intelligence Will Begin To Merge With The Chinese Social Credit System. This Will Create One Of The World's Biggest Threat To Democracy And Freedom.This Post Also Heralds A Warning About The Future Use Of Malicious Rogue Nano-Scale Sensors For Surveillance.

Authoritarian regimes are gaining an edge in controlling the singularity by funding their own quantum computers. China is creating a bulwark against democracy and freedom to serve their authoritarian needs. It is amazing how many Western individuals and institutions are asleep at the switch regarding this massive threat. China's Social Credit System, where linking advanced technology to the control of society, is already underway on a grand scale. It involves the use of surveillance techniques on a massive scale and is sure to be enhanced with nano-sensors in the near future.

A) First, the technological side of this marriage between technology and social control:

The holy grail of science and technology, the technological singularity, will be developed through quantum computers. All the AI, nano-technology, and DNA manipulation have one common factor driving them forward; it is the quantum computer engines.

China has ramped up its investment in developing quantum technologies, but few understand the impacts of losing this modern-day space race.

China’s recent announcement of a $10 billion, four million square foot national quantum laboratory in Heifi should raise alarms. Having already demonstrated a head-start in a handful of quantum technology applications — such as its launch of the Micius satellite, the first satellite-to-ground quantum network, and China’s claimed engineering of a quantum radar capable of detecting current stealth technologies — China has proven it wants to maintain its advantage. These achievements combined with the massive investment by the Chinese government in quantum research should be a wake-up call to policy-makers and military leaders alike.

China’s increased spending and demonstrated advances in developing quantum technologies will enable advantages both commercially, and militarily, for a handful of reasons. The most concerning advantage relates to codebreaking. Today, communication networks pass digital information over public infrastructures, such as fiber optic pathways and wireless airwaves, using encryption to prevent eavesdroppers from reading the content of the message traffic. The only thing stopping eavesdroppers from decrypting this traffic is the mathematical complexity of doing so. Quantum computers will have the ability to crack these codes in far less time than today’s most advanced conventional computers. Furthermore, as quantum computers make linear gains in computational power, they will exponentially decrease the time it takes to break current means of encryption.

Conversely, just as quantum technologies can be used to decrypt traditional security measures, it also can protect information in sophisticated new quantum communication channels

One of the most vulnerable area for every country is to have another county be able to crack its encrypted military and commercial security codes. Doing so exposes the attacked country in such a way to bring it to its knees. Whichever country can accomplish this first by developing the quantum computers with sufficient computational power to crack these traditional codes will have more than just a head start. It will have absolute dominance.

The author of the above article goes on to say,

Given this, what should policy-makers, military leaders, and commercial decision-makers do? Just as previous world leaders have made calls for increased scientific spending to bolster national security interests, leaders today must recognize the changing threat landscape imposed by quantum technologies and put some skin in the game. To produce a profound increase in opportunities in this field someone must provide incentives for the next generation of researchers and developers. The free market may not be enough. Recently the U.S. House Science Committee voiced concerns that the United States was falling behind countries such as China that are ramping up research and development in this area.

This is the race of all races. Unless the USA has some black box project we have no knowledge of to produce these quantum computers, we will fall behind. To put this funding into perspective, the aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), is the most expensive and advanced warship ever built, costing $13 billion. If the Chinese, with the recent $10 billion investment, could develop the quantum technology to crack our military security codes, then even the entire USA military budget, which is approaching $600 billion for 2018, is suspect as a deterrence. Perhaps one less aircraft carrier and more money dedicated to this quantum race is the way to go. Although no one knows when the quantum computers will be of sufficient effectiveness to break these codes, it is obvious China is hedging their bets in this direction.

I previously stated the following from my post #9 under Brain Structure Drives The Consequent Effects Of Economic Inequality,

We are at war; it is a war between competing brain structures. What we are witnessing is the opening salvo of class warfare on a world wide scale. Few dare to call it what it really is in an attempt keep the cauldron from boiling over. Nevertheless, the carnage is just starting and will continue.

From a forum on this website I also present what I consider to be the most important contextual view of the future in one simple paragraph:
1-B Economic Inequality: The Outrage! FUTURE CONCERNS: THE SINGULARITY

"Let there be no doubt, the single most important aspect we are really battling for here is to control the future, our future. Will we control it or let the wealthy elite control our destiny? Make no mistake, what happens here will determine the outcome of humanity. Whoever controls the Singularity will control the future; will it be them or us?"

We can see the Chinese wish to dominate the control of quantum computers and hence, control the singularity. Furthermore, they are not a benign country as the following brief slide show indicates just what the Chinese Totalitarian State is all about,https://www.slideshare.net/vm2701/total ... m-in-china

Many nanoscale materials are regarded as "chemical substances" under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Specifically, chemical substances that have structures with dimensions at the nanoscale -- approximately 1-100 nanometers (nm) -- are commonly referred to as nanoscale materials or nanoscale substances. A human hair is approximately 80,000-100,000 nanometers wide.

These chemical substances may have properties different than the same chemical substances with structures at a larger scale, such as greater strength, lighter weight, and greater chemical reactivity. These enhanced or different properties give nanoscale materials a range of potentially beneficial public and commercial applications; however, the same special properties may cause some of these chemical substances to behave differently than conventional chemicals under specific conditions.

Currently nano-scale particles are regulated for toxicity, not for the maliciousness of future sensors. It is obvious the role of this regulatory organization will needed to be expanded or enhanced in some manner once the nano-scale sensors begin to enter our environment.

We can also see by way of Wikipedia there is no sophisticated mechanism currently in place to monitor nano-particles especially those of the rogue type which could be dumped into our environment,

Regulation of nanotechnology
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Because of the ongoing controversy on the implications of nanotechnology, there is significant debate concerning whether nanotechnology or nanotechnology-based products merit special government regulation. This mainly relates to when to assess new substances prior to their release into the market, community and environment.

Nanotechnology refers to an increasing number of commercially available products – from socks and trousers to tennis racquets and cleaning cloths. Such nanotechnologies and their accompanying industries have triggered calls for increased community participation and effective regulatory arrangements.[1] However, these calls have presently not led to such comprehensive regulation to oversee research and the commercial application of nanotechnologies,[2] or any comprehensive labeling for products that contain nanoparticles or are derived from nano-processes.

Regulatory bodies such as the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration in the U.S. or the Health and Consumer Protection Directorate of the European Commission have started dealing with the potential risks posed by nanoparticles. So far, neither engineered nanoparticles nor the products and materials that contain them are subject to any special regulation regarding production, handling or labelling.

B) Second, the social control implications of the marriage between technology and society:

Totalitarianism has a new friend and will be enhanced by the Chinese Social Credit System set for its full roll out in 2020.

From Wikipedia,
The Social Credit System (社会信用体系 shèhuì xìnyòng tǐxì) is a proposed Chinese government initiative for developing a national reputation system.[1][2][3] It has been reported to be intended to assign a "social credit" rating to every citizen based on government data regarding their economic and social status.[4][3][5][6][7] It works as a mass surveillance tool and uses big data analysis technology.[8] In addition, it is also meant to rate businesses operating on the Chinese market.[9]

From WIRED
Big data meets Big Brother as China moves to rate its citizens
The Chinese government plans to launch its Social Credit System in 2020. The aim? To judge the trustworthiness – or otherwise – of its 1.3 billion residents
By Rachel Botsman
21 October 2017http://www.wired.co.uk/article/chinese- ... y-invasion

On June 14, 2014, the State Council of China published an ominous-sounding document called "Planning Outline for the Construction of a Social Credit System". In the way of Chinese policy documents, it was a lengthy and rather dry affair, but it contained a radical idea. What if there was a national trust score that rated the kind of citizen you were?

Imagine a world where many of your daily activities were constantly monitored and evaluated: what you buy at the shops and online; where you are at any given time; who your friends are and how you interact with them; how many hours you spend watching content or playing video games; and what bills and taxes you pay (or not). It's not hard to picture, because most of that already happens, thanks to all those data-collecting behemoths like Google, Facebook and Instagram or health-tracking apps such as Fitbit. But now imagine a system where all these behaviours are rated as either positive or negative and distilled into a single number, according to rules set by the government. That would create your Citizen Score and it would tell everyone whether or not you were trustworthy. Plus, your rating would be publicly ranked against that of the entire population and used to determine your eligibility for a mortgage or a job, where your children can go to school - or even just your chances of getting a date.

A futuristic vision of Big Brother out of control? No, it's already getting underway in China, where the government is developing the Social Credit System (SCS) to rate the trustworthiness of its 1.3 billion citizens. The Chinese government is pitching the system as a desirable way to measure and enhance "trust" nationwide and to build a culture of "sincerity". As the policy states, "It will forge a public opinion environment where keeping trust is glorious. It will strengthen sincerity in government affairs, commercial sincerity, social sincerity and the construction of judicial credibility."

Also, a recent article in the Independent indicates what could possibly go wrong with this system,

The Chinese state is setting up a vast ranking system system that will monitor the behaviour of its enormous population, and rank them all based on their "social credit."

The "social credit system," first announced in 2014, aims to reinforce the idea that "keeping trust is glorious and breaking trust is disgraceful," according to a government document.

The program is due to be fully operational by 2020, but is being piloted for millions of people already. The scheme is mandatory.

At the moment the system is piecemeal — some are run by city councils, others are scored by private tech platforms which hold personal data.

Like private credit scores, a person's social score can move up and down depending on their behaviour. The exact methodology is a secret — but examples of infractions include bad driving, smoking in non-smoking zones, buying too many video games and posting fake news online.

1. Banning you from flying or getting the train.

China has already started punishing people by restricting their travel.

Nine million people with low scores have been blocked from buying tickets for domestic flights, Channel News Asia reported in March, citing official statistics.

They can also clamp down on luxury options — three million people are barred from getting business-class train tickets.

The eventual system will punish bad passengers specifically. Potential misdeeds include trying to ride with no ticket, loitering in front of boarding gates, or smoking in no-smoking areas.

2. Throttling your internet speeds.
google.jpg
(Shutterstock)

This is according to Rachel Botsman, an author who published part of her book on tech security on Wired last year. The exact mechanics aren't clear yet.

According to Foreign Policy, credit systems monitor whether people pay bills on time, much like financial credit trackers — but also ascribe a moral dimension.

Other mooted punishable offences include spending too long playing video games, wasting money on frivolous purchases and posting on social media.

Spreading fake news, specifically about terrorist attacks or airport security, will also be punishable offences.

3. Banning you or your kids from the best schools.

17 people who refused to carry out military service last year were barred from enrolling in higher education, applying for high school, or continuing their studies, Beijing News reported.

Citizens with low social credit would also be prohibited from enrolling their children at high-paying private schools, Botsman said. It's not clear whether this particular policy has been put into action yet.

4. Stopping you getting the best jobs.

"Trust-breaking" individuals would also be banned from doing management jobs in state-owned firms and big banks.

Some crimes, like fraud and embezzlement, would also have a big effect on social credit, Botsman reported.

5. Keeping you out of the best hotels.

People who refused military service were also banned from some holidays and hotels — showing that vacation plans are fair game too.

The regime rewards people here as well as punishes them.

People with good scores can speed up travel applications to places like Europe, Botsman said.

An unidentified woman in Beijing also told the BBC in 2015 that she was able to book a hotel without having to pay a cash deposit because she had a good score.

6. Being publicly named as a bad citizen.

Naming and shaming is another tactic available. A a 2016 government notice encourages companies to consult the blacklist before hiring people or giving them contracts.

However, people will be notified by the courts before they are added to the list, and are allowed to appeal against the decision within ten days of receiving the notification.

It's not clear when the list will start to be implemented.

A prototype blacklist already exists, and has been used to punish people.

The scrolling list on the left shows individual's names alongside partially redacted ID numbers, while the one on the right shows company names.

Li Xiaolin, a lawyer who was placed on the list in 2015, found himself unable to purchase plane tickets home while on a work trip, Human Rights Watch reported. He also couldn't apply for credit cards.

There is also a list for good citizens — that will reportedly get you more matches on dating websites.
badoo-image-1.jpg
(Badoo)

The BBC said that Baihe, China's biggest dating site, is boosting the profiles of good citizens.

They can also get discounts on energy bills, rent things without deposits, and get better interest rates at banks.

These perks were available to people in Rongcheng, eastern China, whose city council rolled out a social credit system for its citizens and was profiled by Foreign Policy.

Despite the creepiness of the system — Human Rights Watch called it "chilling," while Botsman called it "a futuristic vision of Big Brother out of control" — some citizens say it's making them better people already.

A 32-year-old entrepreneur, who only gave his name as Chen, told Foreign Policy: "I feel like in the past six months, people’s behaviour has gotten better and better.

"For example, when we drive, now we always stop in front of crosswalks. If you don’t stop, you will lose your points.

"At first, we just worried about losing points, but now we got used to it."

Sterling called it correctly when he presents the following quotes from his previous post #22 that I referenced,

The Kleptocrats of the world want us to be their slaves. They are accomplishing this by destroying democracies around the world and grabbing power towards this end. This is apparent as China's Xi grabs more and more power to set himself up to be the ruler for life as the Times reports.

Can you read the handwriting on the wall or do you need a rifle barrel poked into your ribs or a trudgeon slammed up side your head to get the point? The world is drinking the poisoned Kool Aid of authoritarianism which derives its power from a loss of democracy and inequality. Take note, authoritarianism and inequality are the very bedrock of slavery. Say goodbye to your freedoms unless you are willing to fight for them.

C) Finally, what does this marriage of technology and social control mean for us?

It is obvious the future role of regulatory organizations will needed to be expanded and enhanced in some manner once the nano-scale sensors begin to enter our environment.

My personal view is there will be no privacy in the future unless we soon start to regulate and control the explosive growth of nano-sensors. This includes the rogue malicious nano-sensors from within the USA or from out side by malicious actors or state sponsored programs. Here are some near term examples I have read about with near term research to underscore the point:

1) Synthetic neurons processing at 200 million times faster than ours combined with nano-scale technology and unseen genetic manipulation will kill any sense of conventional privacy.

2) RF (radio frequency ) receivers and transmitters will be produced at nono-scale allowing them to be dispersed into the atmosphere in the trillions where unsuspecting individuals will inhale them. From there they will be designed to cross the blood brain barrier and enter an individual's neurons. Once inside the brain they will fulfill their mission by either reporting back to their source or enacting specific actions.

3) The walls all around us will be painted with newly developed paints embedded with thousands of sensors per square inch. They will report where we are, who we are with, our blood pressure, anxiety levels, and what we had to eat just to list a few.

Let me first add some clarity to this matter. There is the collection of the personal data and then there is the use of this data. Given the overwhelming size and scope of the problem in total, I suggest we focus our major attention on only one of these areas first to be efficient and effective; it is the area of the initial entry of these sensors into our environment. Surely it would be best to have both areas controlled, but I do not see the political will now to take on this task other than just the usual verbal window dressing which is tokenism at best.

I will use the three examples above to make my point.

It is not that these three examples will act alone. Rather, they will be used in conjunction with one another to give a complete information picture, a gestalt if you will. The world we live in will become a technological soup of data gathering capabilities with no way to hide from it. And the examples above do not even account for the many other ways information will be collected in the future. The amount of sensors, along with their speed and level of of sophistication, means data collection will be ubiquitous and continual. In total, there will be an avalanche of data being collected on any individual at any point in time. Moreover, in Singularity terms, every cell within a persons body could be monitored on multiple levels with big data knowing more about us than we ourselves know.

The list of such possible future technologies is staggering. Compare this to the recent congressional hearings involving Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook members who lost their privacy to Cambridge Analytic. This shows the near primitive speed the judicial system is willing to work at to protect our privacy today.

As stated in my Post #6 under, "Pitchforks And Torches Will No Longer Be Able To Stop The 1%,"

Unfortunately, because the creation of new laws is mostly based upon past actions, it almost always lags behind technological developments. As we draw closer to the Singularity, this time differential between past actions and the creation of new laws may very well decrease due to new technology in the legal arena itself. But overall, in absolute terms, it will take more time to develop these laws. This is because the new laws will need to be developed in some ratio to the exponentially accelerating new technology being developed. One can envision a legal system not capable of keeping up with the dizzying array of new social implications needing regulation and control. Of course there will be technological developments in the legal arena itself to aid in the processing of this technological onslaught. But one can see a scenario where even the new legal technology will be overwhelmed at some point. With an absolute increase in time needed to process the new technology, forms of human rights abuse will multiply against those individuals least capable of defending themselves.

I think the only way not to get overwhelmed by the size, speed, and sophistication of the new nano-sensor surveillance is to focus on their initial introduction into the environment. This means there must be stringent regulation as to which sensors will be allowed and for what purpose. Furthermore, there will need to be testing of the environment to detect for rogue sensors on a continual basis which, once detected, can be eliminated and their source identified.

While the argument to protect privacy and individuals’ information is valid to a certain extent, we may also have to accept the possibility that privacy will become obsolete in the future. We have inherently become more open as a society in the digital world, voluntarily sharing our identities, interests, views, and personalities.

Given the formidable future situation we will find ourselves in, I believe there is no real hope of privacy in the conventional sense in the long term. While the USA and Europe in the short term will struggle to maintain our privacy in these established manners, I see it as a fools errand. They will not be able to out run the technological tsunami coming their way. Rather, we should open the doors up to the collection of personal information. Why? Because trying to stop this information gathering would be a Herculean task tantamount to stopping the Singularity; it will not happen. Instead, we should take a very narrow focused position on controlling what sensors are allowed and how this information can be used. This nodal point of control is the only choke juncture I envision being able to protect our privacy in any meaningful and effective way. Finally, we will need to set course in the near term as to how this information will be used, for what reasons, and most importantly, by whom.

Without fear mongering, as this post only hopes to open the eyes of individuals to future developments, and while we are awaiting the dawning of the nano-sensor era, one cannot help but wonder if malicious rogue sensors are already here. After all, because we cannot see them or feel them, how would we know unless there is a concerted effort to test for them. A radioactive substance at least can be detected with a geiger counter; not so with nano-sensors. Historically when something is admitted into the environment, like a toxic substance, it takes a calamity before action is taken to remove it. Let us hope this is not the case with nano-sensors.

From the article: "The disparities in wealth that we term “income inequality” are no accident, and they can’t be fixed by fiddling at the edges of our current economic system. These dispari

...

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Seanc,

From the article: "The disparities in wealth that we term “income inequality” are no accident, and they can’t be fixed by fiddling at the edges of our current economic system. These disparities happened by design, and the system struc...

Here is a research article to help explain the mindset of the rich and why these disparities happen by design.

It seems a fair question when the news is dominated by misdeeds of the rich and powerful. The Paul Manafort trial, now entering its third week, has revealed details of his alleged crimes: defrauding banks out of tens of millions of dollars, evading taxes by stashing huge sums in offshore accounts and using riches earned through unregistered work for foreign governments to buy $15,000 ostrich and python jackets.

Manafort's deputy Rick Gates testified about the small fortune he embezzled and spent on his globe-trotting infidelities. Also last week, Rep. Chris Collins, R-N.Y., was charged with insider trading. Scandals have shown Trump's Cabinet members flouting government rules and ethics for private jet rides, $31,000 dining table sets, $43,000 soundproof booths and questionable business trips abroad.

"To researchers who study wealth and power, it's dismaying but not surprising because it tracks so closely with our findings. The effect of power is sadly one of the most reliable laws of human behavior," said Dacher Keltner, a psychologist at the University of California, Berkeley who has spent decades studying wealth, power and privilege.

Six years ago, Keltner and a then-graduate student in his lab, Paul Piff, published influential innovative experiments that confirmed many of our worst assumptions about the rich and the corrupting power of wealth.

In the past few decades, a growing body of psychology research has tried to capture and measure the exact effects of wealth on behavior and morality.

That research has shown the rich cheat more on their taxes. They cheat more on their romantic partners. The wealthy and better-educated are more likely to shoplift. They are more likely to cheat at games of chance. They are often less empathetic. In studies of charitable giving, it's often the lower-income households who donate higher proportions of their income than middle-class and many upper-income folk.

The findings build on similar research in recent years that suggests wealth and power strip people of their inhibitions, increase risk taking and feelings of entitlement and invulnerability. At the same time, power makes people less empathetic and able to see others' perspectives.

"There's a lot of reasons we should care about the ethics of wealthy people," Kraus said. "Even if research found that they were no more unethical as anyone else, their influence on the world is so much greater. If someone like me steals something, it only affects only a handful of people. But if someone like Manafort steals or lies or cheats, it affects so many more people. There are foreign governments and banks involved. You start getting into that area where it can affect the whole country and the course of democracy."

Obviously this is more grist for the lying and cheating wealthy elite's mill. Not only does the one side of their brain produce this $hit, but the other side buys it.

The USA is no longer classified as a "full democracy" and is now rated as a "flawed democracy." We need democracy to support a free and vibrant internet to fight against authoritarian rule and for the Economic Inequality Rating App to flourish.

I watched Fareed Zakaria's video below and was shocked to see the USA is no longer classified as a full democracy as rated by the Democracy Index. I assumed like most people we were a full democracy and did not know of the tarnished ranking. This is important because the Economic Inequality Rating App (EIRA) needs democratic countries to be most effective as I will describe later.

I previously stated in my last post,

Can you read the handwriting on the wall or do you need a rifle barrel poked into your ribs to get the point. The world is drinking the poisoned Kool Aid of authoritarianism which derives its power from a loss of democracy and inequality. Take note, authoritarianism an inequality are the very bedrock of slavery. Say goodbye to your freedoms unless you are willing to fight for them.

Full democracies are nations where civil liberties and basic political freedoms are not only respected, but also reinforced by a political culture conducive to the thriving of democratic principles. These nations have a valid system of governmental checks and balances, independent judiciary whose decisions are enforced, governments that function adequately, and media that is diverse and independent. These nations have only limited problems in democratic functioning.[6]

Flawed democracies are nations where elections are fair and free and basic civil liberties are honored but may have issues (e.g. media freedom infringement). Nonetheless, these nations have significant faults in other democratic aspects, including underdeveloped political culture, low levels of participation in politics, and issues in the functioning of governance.[6]

Hybrid regimes are nations where consequential irregularities exist in elections regularly preventing them from being fair and free. These nations commonly have governments that apply pressure on political opponents, non independent judiciaries, and have widespread corruption, harassment and pressure placed on the media, anemic rule of law, and more pronounced faults than flawed democracies in the realms of underdeveloped political culture, low levels of participation in politics, and issues in the functioning of governance.[6]

Authoritarian regimes are nations where political pluralism has vanished or is extremely limited. These nations are often absolute monarchies or dictatorships, may have some conventional institutions of democracy but with meager significance, infringements and abuses of civil liberties are commonplace, elections (if they take place) are not fair and free, the media is often state-owned or controlled by groups associated with the ruling regime, the judiciary is not independent, and they are characterised by the presence of omnipresent censorship and suppression of governmental criticism.[6]

The EIRA is internet dependent. More importantly, there are non-democratic countries such as China, Russia, and Turkey, to mention a few, that will have the use of the app blocked by authoritarian might. The wealthy elite of these countries certainly would not want the app to be used in their countries because it would ruin their power base by siphoning revenues from their financial concerns back to the 99%. The more democratic countries in the world, the more likely the internet will remain unobstructed and free from blockage.

Across the world, many democracies are sliding further and further toward authoritarianism. NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with Larry Diamond of Stanford University about this "global democratic recession."

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Turkey is not the only country where democratic ideals are eroding. Democracy is retreating in Venezuela, where President Nicolas Maduro is consolidating power. In the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte has jailed his political opponents. In Poland and Hungary, leaders are cracking down on the press and trying to control the judiciary. We reached out to Larry Diamond at Stanford University - he's a founding editor of the Journal of Democracy - and asked what he sees when he looks at the state of democracy worldwide.

LARRY DIAMOND: The whole spectrum of regimes in the world is moving in the wrong direction. Liberal democracies, I'd say, including ours, are under pressure of becoming less liberal, less tolerant. Countries that are democracies but maybe not liberal ones like the Philippines are at very serious risk of sliding back into authoritarian rule. And countries that have been authoritarian are becoming more authoritarian

As I see it, we need democracy to maintain a free and vibrant internet unencumbered by despotic rulers who would ban the EIRA. We also need the EIRA to keep and maintain our democracy untethered from the poisonous effects of the elite's wealth. Together democracy and the EIRA will create the progressive world we would want to live in.

The New Nano-Technology And Artificial Intelligence Will Begin To Merge With The Chinese Social Credit System. This Will Create One Of The World's Biggest Threat To Democracy And Freedom....

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The New Nano-Technology And Artificial Intelligence Will Begin To Merge With The Chinese Social Credit System. This Will Create One Of The World's Biggest Threat To Democracy And Freedom.This Post Also Heralds A Warning About The Future Use Of Malicious Rogue Nano-Scale Sensors For Surveillance.

Authoritarian regimes are gaining an edge in controlling the singularity by funding their own quantum computers. China is creating a bulwark against democracy and freedom to serve their authoritarian needs. It is amazing how many Western individuals and institutions are asleep at the switch regarding this massive threat. China's Social Credit System, where linking advanced technology to the control of society, is already underway on a grand scale. It involves the use of surveillance techniques on a massive scale and is sure to be enhanced with nano-sensors in the near future.

A) First, the technological side of this marriage between technology and social control:

The holy grail of science and technology, the technological singularity, will be developed through quantum computers. All the AI, nano-technology, and DNA manipulation have one common factor driving them forward; it is the quantum computer engines.

China has ramped up its investment in developing quantum technologies, but few understand the impacts of losing this modern-day space race.

China’s recent announcement of a $10 billion, four million square foot national quantum laboratory in Heifi should raise alarms. Having already demonstrated a head-start in a handful of quantum technology applications — such as its laun...

China’s increased spending and demonstrated advances in developing quantum technologies will enable advantages both commercially, and militarily, for a handful of reasons. The most concerning advantage relates to codebreaking. Today, comm...

One of the most vulnerable area for every country is to have another county be able to crack its encrypted military and commercial security codes. Doing so exposes the attacked country in such a way to bring it to its knees. Whichever country can accomplish this first by developing the quantum computers with sufficient computational power to crack these traditional codes will have more than just a head start. It will have absolute dominance.

The author of the above article goes on to say,

Given this, what should policy-makers, military leaders, and commercial decision-makers do? Just as previous world leaders have made calls for increased scientific spending to bolster national security interests, leaders today must recogniz...

This is the race of all races. Unless the USA has some black box project we have no knowledge of to produce these quantum computers, we will fall behind. To put this funding into perspective, the aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), is the most expensive and advanced warship ever built, costing $13 billion. If the Chinese, with the recent $10 billion investment, could develop the quantum technology to crack our military security codes, then even the entire USA military budget, which is approaching $600 billion for 2018, is suspect as a deterrence. Perhaps one less aircraft carrier and more money dedicated to this quantum race is the way to go. Although no one knows when the quantum computers will be of sufficient effectiveness to break these codes, it is obvious China is hedging their bets in this direction.

I previously stated the following from my post #9 under Brain Structure Drives The Consequent Effects Of Economic Inequality,

We are at war; it is a war between competing brain structures. What we are witnessing is the opening salvo of class warfare on a world wide scale. Few dare to call it what it really is in an attempt keep the cauldron from boiling over. Nev...

We can see the Chinese wish to dominate the control of quantum computers and hence, control the singularity. Furthermore, they are not a benign country as the following brief slide show indicates just what the Chinese Totalitarian State is all about,https://www.slideshare.net/vm2701/total ... m-in-china

With regards to nano size particles themselves,

Nanoscale Materials https://www.epa.gov/reviewing-new-chemi ... ials-under
Many nanoscale materials are regarded as "chemical substances" under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Specifically, chemical substances that have structur...

Currently nano-scale particles are regulated for toxicity, not for the maliciousness of future sensors. It is obvious the role of this regulatory organization will needed to be expanded or enhanced in some manner once the nano-scale sensors begin to enter our environment.

We can also see by way of Wikipedia there is no sophisticated mechanism currently in place to monitor nano-particles especially those of the rogue type which could be dumped into our environment,

Regulation of nanotechnology
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Because of the ongoing controversy on the implications of nanotechnology, there is significant debate concerning whether nanotechnology or nanotechnology-based products mer...

B) Second, the social control implications of the marriage between technology and society:

Totalitarianism has a new friend and will be enhanced by the Chinese Social Credit System set for its full roll out in 2020.

From Wikipedia,
The Social Credit System (社会信用体系 shèhuì xìnyòng tǐxì) is a proposed Chinese government initiative for developing a national reputation system.[1][2][3] It has been reported to be intended to assign a "social credit" rating to every citizen based on government data regarding their economic and social status.[4][3][5][6][7] It works as a mass surveillance tool and uses big data analysis technology.[8] In addition, it is also meant to rate businesses operating on the Chinese market.[9]

From WIRED
Big data meets Big Brother as China moves to rate its citizens
The Chinese government plans to launch its Social Credit System in 2020. The aim? To judge the trustworthiness – or otherwise – of its 1.3 billion residents
By Rachel Botsman
21 October 2017http://www.wired.co.uk/article/chinese- ... y-invasion

On June 14, 2014, the State Council of China published an ominous-sounding document called "Planning Outline for the Construction of a Social Credit System". In the way of Chinese policy documents, it was a lengthy and rather dry affair, bu...

Also, a recent article in the Independent indicates what could possibly go wrong with this system,

The Chinese state is setting up a vast ranking system system that will monitor the behaviour of its enormous population, and rank them all based on their "social credit."
The "social credit system," first announced in 2014, aims to reinfor...

1. Banning you from flying or getting the train.
China has already started punishing people by restricting their travel.
Nine million people with low scores have been blocked from buying tickets for domestic flights, Channel News Asia r...

Sterling called it correctly when he presents the following quotes from his previous post #22 that I referenced,

The Kleptocrats of the world want us to be their slaves. They are accomplishing this by destroying democracies around the world and grabbing power towards this end. This is apparent as China's Xi grabs more and more power to set himself up ...

Can you read the handwriting on the wall or do you need a rifle barrel poked into your ribs or a trudgeon slammed up side your head to get the point? The world is drinking the poisoned Kool Aid of authoritarianism which derives its power fr...

C) Finally, what does this marriage of technology and social control mean for us?

It is obvious the future role of regulatory organizations will needed to be expanded and enhanced in some manner once the nano-scale sensors begin to enter our environment.

My personal view is there will be no privacy in the future unless we soon start to regulate and control the explosive growth of nano-sensors. This includes the rogue malicious nano-sensors from within the USA or from out side by malicious actors or state sponsored programs. Here are some near term examples I have read about with near term research to underscore the point:

1) Synthetic neurons processing at 200 million times faster than ours combined with nano-scale technology and unseen genetic manipulation will kill any sense of conventional privacy.

2) RF (radio frequency ) receivers and transmitters will be produced at nono-scale allowing them to be dispersed into the atmosphere in the trillions where unsuspecting individuals will inhale them. From there they will be designed to cross the blood brain barrier and enter an individual's neurons. Once inside the brain they will fulfill their mission by either reporting back to their source or enacting specific actions.

3) The walls all around us will be painted with newly developed paints embedded with thousands of sensors per square inch. They will report where we are, who we are with, our blood pressure, anxiety levels, and what we had to eat just to list a few.

Let me first add some clarity to this matter. There is the collection of the personal data and then there is the use of this data. Given the overwhelming size and scope of the problem in total, I suggest we focus our major attention on only one of these areas first to be efficient and effective; it is the area of the initial entry of these sensors into our environment. Surely it would be best to have both areas controlled, but I do not see the political will now to take on this task other than just the usual verbal window dressing which is tokenism at best.

I will use the three examples above to make my point.

It is not that these three examples will act alone. Rather, they will be used in conjunction with one another to give a complete information picture, a gestalt if you will. The world we live in will become a technological soup of data gathering capabilities with no way to hide from it. And the examples above do not even account for the many other ways information will be collected in the future. The amount of sensors, along with their speed and level of of sophistication, means data collection will be ubiquitous and continual. In total, there will be an avalanche of data being collected on any individual at any point in time. Moreover, in Singularity terms, every cell within a persons body could be monitored on multiple levels with big data knowing more about us than we ourselves know.

The list of such possible future technologies is staggering. Compare this to the recent congressional hearings involving Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook members who lost their privacy to Cambridge Analytic. This shows the near primitive speed the judicial system is willing to work at to protect our privacy today.

As stated in my Post #6 under, "Pitchforks And Torches Will No Longer Be Able To Stop The 1%,"

Unfortunately, because the creation of new laws is mostly based upon past actions, it almost always lags behind technological developments. As we draw closer to the Singularity, this time differential between past actions and the creation o...

I think the only way not to get overwhelmed by the size, speed, and sophistication of the new nano-sensor surveillance is to focus on their initial introduction into the environment. This means there must be stringent regulation as to which sensors will be allowed and for what purpose. Furthermore, there will need to be testing of the environment to detect for rogue sensors on a continual basis which, once detected, can be eliminated and their source identified.

While the argument to protect privacy and individuals’ information is valid to a certain extent, we may also have to accept the possibility that privacy will become obsolete in the future. We have inherently become more open as a society ...

Given the formidable future situation we will find ourselves in, I believe there is no real hope of privacy in the conventional sense in the long term. While the USA and Europe in the short term will struggle to maintain our privacy in these established manners, I see it as a fools errand. They will not be able to out run the technological tsunami coming their way. Rather, we should open the doors up to the collection of personal information. Why? Because trying to stop this information gathering would be a Herculean task tantamount to stopping the Singularity; it will not happen. Instead, we should take a very narrow focused position on controlling what sensors are allowed and how this information can be used. This nodal point of control is the only choke juncture I envision being able to protect our privacy in any meaningful and effective way. Finally, we will need to set course in the near term as to how this information will be used, for what reasons, and most importantly, by whom.

"Under the guise of creating a utopia, China is now one of the most authoritarian and liberty bereft societies on the planet. The Chinese defend the system as a vehicle to “maintain stability” and "strengthen sincerity.” In reality, China views control over its population paramount to liberty."

"It’s trendy pretending America is enduring a 1984 fascist hellscape, but China is actually implementing the largest surveillance state in the history of civilization with over 1.3 billion people under its watchful eye. The free world is not far behind if we don’t protect privacy, deny our policymakers’ desire to expand the reach of government, and resist the urge to commercially or socially punish those who don't share our political ideology. Privacy and liberty are never more than one generation away from extinction."

"The rest of the world is steps away from trailing the Chinese into a surveillance state."

"China has become the largest surveillance state on the planet. Taking a page out of the Netflix show Black Mirror, the People’s Republic of China has begun assigning scores that dictate its citizens’ ability to travel, their social mobility, educational opportunities, and where they can live. The totalitarian 1984 of the future is now 2018 China."

"China has established a “social credit system” to assign these scores. In June 2014, the National Development and Reform Commission of China issued a State Council Notice initiating the development of a program to “raise the honest mentality and credit levels of the entire society,” “build a Socialist harmonious society," and “encourage keeping trust and punish breaking trust.” Now fully implemented ahead of the 2020 deadline by the Chinese government, the credit system functions like financial credit scores in America except rather than dictate one’s ability to obtain a line of credit, the Chinese social credit score impacts nearly every aspect of one’s life."

"To date, the implementation and instrumentality of the plan remains largely secret and arbitrarily applied. The best guidance of what to expect from the social score system comes from the 2014 Notice, which better defines several categories of scoring. There are a few troubling areas."

"Second, banking and social media information are collected, stored, and evaluated. China has a highly regulated Internet, but anecdotal reports suggest that while some rules are relatively clear like adherence to Chinese law or Communist Party rules, others are more ambiguous such as upholding "social sincerity" and "harmony." Even before scoring, speech in China was highly policed; the difference now is that "bad" speech carries significant consequences."

"The freedom to travel will also be highly regulated. Last Tuesday, CBS New York reported that journalist, Liu Hu, is currently unable to fly for failure to sincerely apologize for some of his tweets. The social credit system integrates freedom to use "public roads, railways, waterways, aviation, channels and other such transportation markets" with the other assessment standards to create a holistic "trust-breaking record." High credit score individuals will be rewarded with preferential travel treatment within and out of China. Imagine your low Uber rating means you can no longer take any public transportation."

"China collects and calculates scores with the help of large data collection firms downloading on the Chinese people. Wired reports the Chinese government conscripted the assistance from China’s Uber equivalent, along with finance companies and others, to create the infrastructure for mass data collection and score algorithms to monitor nearly every aspect of modern life."

"Under the guise of creating a utopia, China is now one of the most authoritarian and liberty bereft societies on the planet. The Chinese defend the system as a vehicle to “maintain stability” and "strengthen sincerity.” In reality, China views control over its population paramount to liberty."

"It’s tempting to think this government overreach is purely reserved to China, after all they did just forfeit significant freedom by electing Xi Jinping president for life. This is incorrect thinking."

"The rest of the world is steps away from trailing the Chinese into a surveillance state."

"With incredible data collection, the plumbing is already in place for such a system to take hold. Our tech companies catalogue large quantities of data on everyone. As we saw with Cambridge Analytica in the 2016 election, this data can be used to steer particular viewpoints; it’s not a far cry to imagine information being used to control viewpoints."

Worse yet, one feckless idiot is even promoting this idea in the West such as in the article found in Polytaku, We Need to Have a Social Credit System Like China
by GameJurnoGraham • Published May 3, 2018http://polytaku.press/index.php/2018/05 ...

"In the West’s hypothetical version, people that are hate-speakers, like those who don’t support open borders, Feminism, and anti-racism would have very low scores. Their access to social events, shops, and restaurants restricted. Their career options would be very low and they would even be barred from living in certain areas and certain types of houses. The good Progressive people that are on the right side of history would have high scores and have opportunities all across society open to them."

The main problem with this logic is that progressives may not be in control in the future, and a social credit score based upon conservative values may be established. What then? Also, what he proposes is not consistent with progressive values.

Maybe we should have a social credit score based upon one's looks? One wonders how well the author, GameJurnoGraham, would fare in this environment.

If you think you can work your way out of this slavery, think again. Wealth inequality acts as razor wire around your word. It holds you back and cuts your opportunities.

...

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Slavery Is Coming For Us All.

From Jessica's Post #15,

If you think you can work your way out of this slavery, think again. Wealth inequality acts as razor wire around your word. It holds you back and cuts your opportunities.

The Kleptocrats of the world want us to be their slaves. They are accomplishing this by destroying democracies around the world and grabbing power towards this end. This is apparent as China's Xi grabs more and more power to set himself up to be the ruler for life as the Times reports: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/26/worl ... anism.html

New York Times Asia Pacific
With Xi’s Power Grab, China Joins New Era of Strongmen
By STEVEN LEE MYERSFEB. 26, 2018

BEIJING — There was a time, not so long ago, when a Chinese leader setting himself up as ruler for life would have stirred international condemnation for bucking the global trend toward greater democracy. Now, such an action seems fully i...

Can you read the handwriting on the wall or do you need a rifle barrel poked into your ribs or a trudgeon slammed up side your head to get the point? The world is drinking the poisoned Kool Aid of authoritarianism which derives its power from a loss of democracy and inequality. Take note, authoritarianism and inequality are the very bedrock of slavery. Say goodbye to your freedoms unless you are willing to fight for them.

To drive this concept home, Fareed Zakaria presents a global view on the demise of democracy.

The United Nations report on poverty in America indicates 40 million people live in poverty. This is a form of slavery caused by high levels of economic inequality and denied by President Trump's administration.

Nikki Haley is not only in denial but creates abhorrent spin when she blasts a UN report on poverty in America as "misleading and politically motivated". She wants to throw sand at others and no longer wants to play in the sandbox the United States helped to create. This she presented on Fox News as reported by Rich Edson, June 2018.

A United Nations report criticizing the U.S. government on poverty in America is “misleading and politically motivated,” according to U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley.

“It is patently ridiculous for the United Nations to examine poverty in America,” Haley wrote in letters to Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. “There is no question that poverty in America remains a serious concern, but it does no one any good to inaccurately describe its prevalence or its causes.”

The nation's middle class, long a pillar of the U.S. economy and foundation of the American dream, has shrunk to the point where it no longer constitutes the majority of the adult population, according to a new major study.

The UN response shows just how pathetic and biased Nikki Haley's accusations are when it tells the truth,

A human rights expert criticized the United States on Friday for failing to tackle poverty and giving tax cuts to the wealthy — comments that came only days after Washington quit the UN body that appointed him.

High US income inequality “can only be made worse” by the Trump administration’s policy of cutting taxes, Philip Alston told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

“At the other end of the spectrum, 40 million Americans live in poverty and 18.5 million of those live in extreme poverty,” he said. “In addition, vast numbers of middle-class Americans are perched on the edge, with 40 percent of the adult population saying they would be unable to cover an unexpected $400 expense.”

A day before Alston presented his report to the rights body, the US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, branded it “misleading and politically motivated” in a letter .

“When one of the world’s wealthiest countries does very little about the fact that 40 million of its citizens live in poverty, it is entirely appropriate for the reasons to be scrutinized,” Alston said of the United States.

Obviously Haley wants to take her toys and leave the sandbox after being confronted with the truth.

"Under the guise of creating a utopia, China is now one of the most authoritarian and liberty bereft societies on the planet. The Chinese defend the system as a vehicle to “maintain stability” and "strengthen sincerity.” In reality, C...

Worse yet, one feckless idiot is even promoting this idea in the West such as in the article found in Polytaku, We Need to Have a Social Credit System Like China
by GameJurnoGraham • Published May 3, 2018http://polytaku.press/index.php/2018/05 ...

"In the West’s hypothetical version, people that are hate-speakers, like those who don’t support open borders, Feminism, and anti-racism would have very low scores. Their access to social events, shops, and restaurants restricted. Their...

The main problem with this logic is that progressives may not be in control in the future, and a social credit score based upon conservative values may be established. What then? Also, what he proposes is not consistent with progressive values.

If the Chinese Social Credit System can happen in China, it can also happen in the USA given the right authoritarian conditions. Should this happen, I predict the future wealthy elites will strive to maintain control of their power and wealth by manipulating brain structures rather than psychological processes and what better way to do it than to do so on a large economical scale.

What does it take to intern half a million members of one ethnic group in just a year? Enormous resources and elaborate organization, but the Chinese authorities aren’t stingy. Vast swathes of the Uighur population in China’s western region of Xinjiang — as well as Kazakhs, Kyrgyz and other ethnic minorities — are being detained to undergo what the state calls “transformation through education.” Many tens of thousands of them have been locked up in new thought-control camps with barbed wire, bombproof surfaces, reinforced doors and guard rooms.

This quote is from a New York Times article,"What Really Happens in China’s ‘Re-education’ Camps."
By Rian Thum, a historian, who has been conducting research in Xinjiang, China, for nearly two decades.
May 15, 2018 https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/15/opin ... camps.html

Any project requiring "enormous resources" always falls under close scrutiny for more economical means to attain the stated goals and thought-control re-education camps are no exception to this rule. Wikipedia's text on the subject points to a recent past experience when it explains, "Reeducation camp (Vietnamese: trại học tập cải tạo) is the official title given to the prison camps operated by the Communist government of Vietnam following the end of the Vietnam War. In such "reeducation camps", the government imprisoned up to 300,000 former military officers, government workers and supporters of the former government of South Vietnam.[1] Reeducation as it was implemented in Vietnam was seen as both a means of revenge and as a sophisticated technique of repression and indoctrination, which developed following the 1975 Fall of Saigon. Thousands were tortured or abused. Prisoners were incarcerated for as long as 17 years, with most terms ranging from three to 10 years."

"The term 'reeducation camp' is also used to refer to prison camps operated by the People's Republic of China during the Cultural Revolution, or the laogai and laojiao camps currently operated by the Chinese government. At least 120,000 members of China's Muslim Uyghur minority have been detained in Xinjiang reeducation camps.[2] Some international media reports said as many as 1 million people are being held in such camps in the Xinjiang region.[3] "

History sure likes to repeat itself.

But soon, in the not so distant future, new technological advances in lab-grown brain bits may provide a much simpler and more economic solution than herding individuals into re-education camps with all the associated costs of transportation, housing, feeding, and psychologically re-educating them.

Today, organoids that resemble different regions of the human brain are routinely spun up from stem cells in large batches in laboratories around the world. Researchers have refined their recipes since the technique was first described five years ago, but the process is surprisingly hands-off: after a few nudges from scientists, stem cells grow into spheres with about a million neurons through a naturally occurring choreography that mirrors early brain development in the womb.

Implausible you say? I do not think so. Currently a more authoritarian state, spurred on by Donald Trump and the Republican Party, is beginning to supplanting the rule of law in the USA. It is not all that distant from the Japanese internment camps of WWII or throwing immigrant families into jail camps. Surely in the name of economic efficiency there is a better way to control people. A merger of dictatorial rule with brain bit organoids may be just the answer.

Undoubtedly, if history is any guide, their intent is to codify their amoral brain structure into the laws and policies of government.

For those who say to me, "give them a chance and let's see what they can do," I shout, "not an inch and not a second."

For those who say to me, "pray for them," I shout, "you might as well walk willingly into the gas chamber right now and close the door behind you."

For those who offer me succor, a helping hand in the form of relativism by lecturing me how they have the right to their own thoughts and opinions, I shout, "a position of inserting one's cranium into one's own anal sphincter is not only undignified but blinding to the truth as well. Such self absorption will not protect you."

We are at war; it is a war between competing brain structures. What we are witnessing is the opening salvo of class warfare on a world wide scale. Few dare to call it what it really is in an attempt keep the cauldron from boiling over. Nevertheless, the carnage is just starting and will continue.

From a forum on this website I previously present what I consider to be the most important contextual view of the future in one simple paragraph:
1-B Economic Inequality: The Outrage! FUTURE CONCERNS: THE SINGULARITY

"Let there be no doubt, the single most important aspect we are really battling for here is to control the future, our future. Will we control it or let the wealthy elite control our destiny? Make no mistake, what happens here will determine the outcome of humanity. Whoever controls the Singularity will control the future; will it be them or us?"

Who will control the future structure of the Singularity's brain? Who's brain structure will be maintained and who's will be annihilated genetically or altered through artificial intelligence? If the structures within our brains of today are so strong as to maintain our world views as being correct, then who's values will win the battle of the brain structure?

The question is, who's brain structure will be used for these lab-grown brain bits? I am sure the wealthy conservatives would want their views of the world propagated and hence a better level of control based upon their stem cell organoids and subsequent ideologies. No doubt it will be easier and less expensive to control the masses in this manner.